Death's Door
by Midnight Rosedrop
Summary: Shinichi passed out when he was poisoned, we all know this, but is that all that truly happened? Is that all that he learned. Is that honestly the only possible action that took place? After all he was at Death's Door. -Oneshot-


He pondered where he was. Everything felt blank. Around him was nothing but gray, but there wasn't any noticeable floor, or ceiling. He was simply there existing alone. What had happened? He pulled his recollection to the fore of his thoughts. He had been a Tropical Land with his childhood friend, Ran Mouri because she had gotten first place in the karate tournament. There had been a murder on the rollercoaster they had both ridden, they got some cotton candy...

Then there was a guy in black. Thick bones, not heavy set, but built, a wide facial structure, flat chin, broad hooked nose, a dominant trait; heavily tinted black black sunglasses, run of the mill quality black fedora. He wore a button up shirt, tie, slacks and dress shoes. This would've suggested that he worked as a businessman if the outfit wasn't under the thick black trench coat. The man, was running as if he was late for something. Then Shinichi recalled that he had been acting suspicious the entirety of the murder investigation. He had to investigate, it was in his nature as a detective. Not for the title of 'Heisei Holmes' or 'Detective of the East', but for the sake of the lives of both the victims (no matter what the crime) and the criminals themselves.

He had been watching a shady deal take place, then there was an intense pain coming from his temple. After that things got somewhat fuzzy, there had been a verbal exchange about poison, and something shoved into his mouth followed by what he could only assume to be some sort of alcohol. There was another exchange which they referred to each other as Gin and Vodka, code names of some sort. Then there had been an violently agonizing pain shooting through him. As though his bones had been broken and melted down into a new mold. After that there was no memories. What had happened, and the question arose once again, where was he?

Finally a figure emerged from the nothingness. It had the appearance of a teenage girl, around her fourteens. She had straight brown hair, a dominant trait; and ethereal blue eyes. Other than that there was nothing he could deduce. She had no signs of exercise but did not look unhealthy, her hands lacked any calluses, as though she had never used them, she had no signs of previous injuries, and overall, looked blank. As though there was nothing there. An empty sheet.

"Hello Kudo Shinichi." She said. Nothing was reflected in her voice, but it wasn't quite emotionless either.

"Hello." Kudo answered cautiously. "Who are you and where are we?"

"I am what people have called 'death' but I have no name for myself." She stated borderline calmly. "We are within my regions of realm manipulation."

Kudo stood dumbfounded, he knew it was impossible yet he was there. It was what his brain couldn't process. He couldn't accept it. "What do you mean death and realm manipulation?"

"I mean precisely what has been said. Whether you choose to believe it or not has no affect on me."

There was a long pause with no exchanges. Shinichi studied her, trying to figure out what it was she was trying to pull. There was a tugging sensation in the back of his mind that she made sense. He must've been poisoned and death was here to claim him. He wouldn't allow it. He would not die. Not yet. "If you want to kill me, I won't let you."

The girl loosely giggled at his unanticipated claim before cutting loose his worries. "In truth I wish to avoid exercising that ability of mine, as a matter of fact I wish to make a deal with you." Shinichi eyed her worriedly. "I wish for you to live, and put an end to the organization who poisoned you."

Shinichi stared at her dumbfounded. "You're claiming to be the personification of death, but you're telling me to live." It was contradictory, and thus nonsense. "What's the catch. What's in it for you?"

"The organization is determined to become immortal, and gives no care to the lives of others. They have already killed thousands in an untimely manner, and I cannot use my abilities to lead these people to where it is I guide them. It's as though they are purposefully moving the cogs of a clock so that they desynchronize. They are coming closer to the answer to immortality, and that'll throw this entire dimension into chaos. The dimension itself will take the lives of others forcefully in order to maintain the balance between the dead and the living."

Shinichi stood there once again contemplating before settling on a question, "What will happen to me after I've taken them down if I'm already suppose to be dead?"

She gave a bitter smile, the most prominent emotional action she had done yet. "You're right, I can't restore you to your complete life with my own aptitude hindered by the lack of equilibrium. However I can give you a form that you're familiar with, and guide you to the places you need to be to stop the death. I'll try to help you as much as possible. I can try to set you up with people that can lead you to where you need to go. But I can only nudge you in a direction, I can't do much. Once the balance is restored I'll have a much stronger handle on my powers, and from there I'll be able to return you to your true form."

Shinichi nodded and thought it over. "What do you mean a form I'm familiar with?" He asked.

"You'll be younger. You'd have the same mind, but your body will be that of an eight year old."

"What about Ran?" He asked abruptly.

"She's safe."

"Will she be in any danger?"

The girl paused. "I can't see the future," She thought a bit, "What I can guarantee is that I'll make it so that there will always be someone protecting her."

Shinichi stewed on it for a bit. "I can't put her into any danger." He resolved.

"Don't you think she'll be curious?" The girl asked curtly. "She and her father will investigate your death, and she's stubborn. She won't stop till she finds something, and she's already met people in the organization. Besides she's in lo-"

"What!" Shinichi shouted, in fearful anger. "When has she met them, where?" he asked gripping onto the girl, his emotions clear on his face.

"With you in Los Angeles, but they've all gone back to Japan." She said, back to a calm emptiness.

Shinichi's emotions clouded his thoughts as he took a step back in self-hate, disbelief and too many emotions to sort through. He gritted his teeth in anger after contemplating everything he'd just been told. "You're using me." He stated bluntly. "You're using Ran as a tool to manipulate me." He attempted to use this knowledge to calm himself down, but to no avail, because there was no assurance that this being was lying. There were no facts he could use to eliminate any fallacies.

Another bitter smile crossed her features. "Yes I am." Shinichi looked her straight in the eye. "You are smart enough to take them down, you have something that needs protecting, and ironically enough, it's safer for everyone if you live. You'll prevent deaths." She took on a serious expression. "People are trying to kill. Whether it's for revenge or fun, one accident or mass murder, there's going to be people in danger. And I need someone to stop them." She took a stride closer to Shinichi. "And you CAN. You can _save_ them, so I'm going to use anything and everything in my arsenal to get you to help me. I swear I'll use all my resources to protect you and the people you hold dear, so please. I beseech you, please help me."

That's when it clicked for Shinichi. She was a victim too, not nearly as drastically as many of the clients who had hired him were, but definitely affected. She was offering him all she could, and although he didn't understand most of how things functioned wherever they were, she was offering to put in a great deal of her own abilities into this case. And then there was Ran, although he was most definitely not pleased with this girl attempting to use Ran as a bargaining chip, it seemed as though she was desperately grabbing onto straws of hope.

"Is there anything else?" He asked.

There was a long pause before she spoke again, "You won't be able to remember this." She watched as Shinichi's expression grew agitated and confused. "I'll use any means on my end to get you closer and communicate something to you, be it a clue, spy, or anything you may need. Even an ally."

Shinichi stared at her a long time, judging everything she had said. He came to the conclusion that she wasn't blank. Her personality was simply written in invisible ink. He could come to the conclusion that she wasn't uncaring, but he couldn't get much farther when it came to emotional stuff, seeing as he was quite dense in that particular department.

"I'll take the case." He finally said.

"Thank you." She said, the gratitude on her face more evident than anything he'd ever seen. He felt himself slip away, memory already fading away.

* * *

"Hey, come here! We've got a dead body!"

"What?!"

 _'Hahaha… So I really am dead.'_

"Wait he's still breathing!"

"Hurry! Call the paramedics!"

 _'So I'm still alive?'_

"Can you stand up, little boy?"

* * *

 **A/N  
** **So the entire point of this one-shot was to investigate the time span that Shinichi was 'out' and throw in my own head cannon. Everyone calls Conan a Shinigami, but what if he was led there purposely to stop future deaths. ex: the murderers killing themselves, stopping bombers from killing thousands of people, saving people from falls and they in turn save others. Anyway this idea popped into my head a LOONG time ago. Please review/critic me. I knoww I have areas I need to improve in, so just let me know! Thank you for reading!**


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